A ten-year deal tailored for AI and Bitcoin
Through its subsidiary Google Cloud, the tech giant has signed a 10-year contract with TeraWulf. The goal:
- Host massive workloads related to artificial intelligence
- Expand Bitcoin mining capabilities
In concrete terms, the agreement provides for an additional 500 megawatts (MW) of energy capacity, bringing TeraWulf's infrastructure to the symbolic threshold of 1 gigawatt.
"This agreement with Google Cloud allows us to continue to grow and innovate, while providing our customers with cutting-edge hosting solutions for AI and Bitcoin mining," said Paul Prager, CEO of TeraWulf.
The announcement sent shockwaves through the markets, with WULF shares, listed on the Nasdaq, soaring 50% on Thursday to reach a new high.
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For a company that went public in December 2021, the growth is spectacular: in three years, TeraWulf has multiplied its capacity, recently reaching 5.5 EH/s (+37% over the year). As a reminder, "computing power" in Bitcoin mining, expressed in EH/s (exahash per second), measures the number of cryptographic calculations a miner can perform each second to validate blocks and thus be rewarded in bitcoins. With 5.5 EH/s, TeraWulf performs 5.5 quintillion calculations per second, reflecting its ability to secure the network and earn Bitcoin rewards. To put this figure into perspective, all miners on the Bitcoin network currently generate more than 1,000 EH/s.
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To understand everything about computing power in Bitcoin mining: Bitcoin, the 10-minute puzzle
AI and crypto, same fight
This investment illustrates a deeper trend: cloud giants want their share of Bitcoin's computing power. According to McKinsey, the global market for high-performance computing (HPC) hosting, which involves solving complex, resource-intensive calculations that cannot be handled efficiently by conventional computers, is expected to be worth $250 billion by 2030. Among the sectors where energy demand is skyrocketing, generative AI is at the forefront. Training its models and responding to user queries requires colossal amounts of electricity.
The problem is that while investors are pouring massive amounts of capital into this booming market, companies are struggling to quickly access the infrastructure needed to support this thirst for computing power. This is where bitcoin miners come in.
Accustomed to running high-performance server farms, they already have all the necessary assets: stable and powerful power supplies, optimized cooling systems, and fast, low-latency network connections. Their expertise and facilities can easily be repurposed to meet the needs of AI giants, making these players a strategic link in the global race for computing power.
Google intends to occupy a strategic position in this segment, where AI and cryptocurrencies share the same computationally intensive infrastructure.
Google's move is part of a race that is already underway:
- Microsoft has invested in hybrid AI/crypto computing farms
- Amazon Web Services is exploring hosting offerings for blockchains and mining for institutions
A game-changing alliance
Beyond financial power, it is the strategic signal that strikes. Google, traditionally cautious about Bitcoin, is now positioning itself as a major infrastructure provider for mining, while consolidating its lead in AI. This convergence is no coincidence: AI and crypto are two of the world's fastest-growing markets, and their combination could accelerate the industrialization of mining and AI.
